about

LOVE . HUMANITY . METAMORPHOSIS represents an expansive leap forward from Axel's pensive 5-song EP Transition. Produced and mixed by Justin Peacock, the record features a wealth of talent, including Tom Hagerman of DeVotchKa, Mackenzie Gault of Flobots, and string arrangements by award-winning composers Matthew Nicholl and Kailin Yong.

credits

released September 20, 2011

All songs by Melissa Axel, except "Every Place Is Home" lyrics by Melissa Axel and James E. Jacoby / music by Melissa Axel,
James E. Jacoby, and Andy White

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right in the middle of my life
the telephone in my brain begins to ring
and I am channeling
a song about
the worth of things

these things are old
these things are gone and
we have learned to carry on,
without knowing

the worth of things
the worth of things

burning through the hollow of my gut
all the thoughts of distant pasts
that I have got to surpass
to find a way
to make this last

these things are old
these things are gone and
we have learned to carry on,
without knowing

the worth of things
the worth of things

the worth of things
the worth of things

Track Name: I Want Love To Win

Cyndi said, "anyone listening to God
ain’t hearing hate," but they still carry on
with prejudiced law and inhumane lies
“nourishing” souls with burger-and-fry homilies
just can’t let people be …

all of this fighting and all of this fear
in the hearts of a people united by sheer isolation
all of this fighting and all of this fear
in the hearts of a people united by indoctrination

I want this to stop
I want love to win
I mean it, I want this to stop
I want love to win

a big box of emptiness, circuits, and tubes
is a flat-panel god on our walls now
telling us sit and stand tall in our apathy
rise to no challenges, build no more bridges
and love nothing more of ourselves than our damages
burn out or blend in, the choice is yours …
but no choice stops war

and bacon tastes like death but still we eat it
I guess we want to taste the way out on the way in
born to trump the mundane
as bodies wither and wane
transcend … transcend …
refrain …

I want this to stop
I want love to win
I want this to stop
I want love to win

I want what we feel to matter
I want what we feel to matter
I want peace right now
I want peace right now

I don’t want to wait for it,
wish for it, pray for it
cry for it, fight for it,
bleed for it, die for it …

Track Name: Human Race

the world is not round
it’s becoming square
it’s becoming air

the world is not wide
it’s grown smaller and smaller
burning out from the inside

again and again and again and again
it’s a human race to the finish line
around and around and around and around we go
and where it stops, nobody knows

the world is not safe
it’s spinning too fast
now it may not last

the world is not full
it’s becoming flat
it’s become a battleground again

again and again and again and again
it’s a human race to the finish line
around and around and around and around we go

again and again and again and again
it’s a human race to the bitter end …
to the bitter end

but the world will not end
no, the world will not end
there is more to do, there is more to say, there is time to love
there is more to see, there is more to hear, there is time to feel
there is more to find, there is more to know
there is time to forget the cares of this world

again and again and again and again
it’s a human race to the finish line
around and around and around and around we go

again and again and again and again
it’s a human race to the finish line
it’s a human race to the finish line
it’s a human race to the finish line

around and around and around and around we go
and where it stops, nobody knows

Track Name: Golden Rule (Nothing Wrong With You)

pigtails, she loved pigtails
wore ’em every day to school
hopscotch, catch me if you can
but do unto them as they’d do unto you
that’s the golden rule

tears run, lines get blurry
when you’re afraid of who you are
broken crystal, shattered daydreams
lonely little brilliant star

when kids made fun
when life got hard
mommy held her hand
when it was more than she could stand

she would sing, soft but strong,
“there is nothing wrong with you”
it’s still true

pigtails, she loved pigtails
on her first love back in school
jumped, but never caught that love …
kids can be so cruel

when people stare
when they avert their eyes
no one holds her hand
but when it’s more than she can stand

she still sings, soft but strong,
“there is nothing wrong with you”
it must be true

it takes the shine off, don’t it?
“‘be yourself’ but don’t be you”
fit your heart into our boxes
and play by our rules

oh “do unto them”
means nothing to you
when you do this to me,
is it hurting you too?

but “everyone is special,
everybody’s unique”
that’s what they say,
and I’d like to believe it

so I sing, soft but strong,
“there is nothing wrong with you”
‘cause it’s true